Wine is a translation layer (a program loader) capable of running
Windows applications on Linux and other POSIX compatible operating
systems. Windows programs running in Wine act as native programs would,
running without the performance or memory usage penalties of an emulator,
with a similar look and feel to other applications on your desktop.
The Wine project started in 1993 as a way to support running
Windows 3.1 programs on Linux. Bob Amstadt was the original
coordinator, but turned it over fairly early on to Alexandre
Julliard, who has run it ever since. Over the years, ports
for other Unixes have been added, along with support for Win32
as Win32 applications became popular.
Wine is still under development, and it is not yet suitable for
general use. Nevertheless, many people find it useful in running
a growing number of Windows programs. Please see the
Application Database
for success and failure reports for hundreds of Windows
programs, as well as the Bug
Tracking Database for a list of known issues, and the
Status page for a global view on Wine's
implementation progress.
A broad spectrum of Wine developers can be reached in the
Wine forums. Comments about the winehq.org
website can be emailed to web-admin_at_winehq.org. Alexandre
Julliard leads the Wine project, and may be reached by email at
julliard_at_winehq.org.
We've also assembled a short list of resources to help you understand
the project:
